Where Will We Spawn?

One of the awesome things about living in the Pacific Northwest (among the many other awesome things) is that salmon spawn here. Not that I’ve ever had an engaging conversation with a salmon — unless it was on the end of a pair of chopsticks — but watching a whole school of them swimming upstream to where they began life in order to pass on their genes to the next generation before they expire from exhaustion is a fascinating experience (if you can get over the morbidity of what ultimately amounts to mass fish suicide).

Pretty much the entirety of rivers and streams surrounding Puget Sound come alive with silver and pink, and people gather along the spawning routes to gawk accordingly. In Issaquah, where Diana and I live, the annual Salmon Days Festival brings ’em out in droves (people, that is. I think the salmon have been traversing this area before there even was an Issaquah). Of course, we couldn’t resist the chance to check it out. Is there irony in the fact that we took a school bus as a shuttle to the event?

This wasn’t just an opportunity to watch the cycle of life playing out right in front of us, but also to enjoy the art and food and other types of things that go on at these festivals. (Okay, I admit it: we pretty much go for the art and the food.) I was able to pick up a couple of new Justin Hillgrove pieces and we were able to enjoy snacks aplenty. I wanted to go down to the creek, slap a salmon out of the water, and eat it raw just like a bear would, but Diana wouldn’t let me.

Because I forgot to bring the hot sauce.

Hey! Look! There’s Justin Hillgrove right now. I wonder what he’ll make up next?